Catalytic performance of modified Vermiculite-supported Nickel in Methane dry Reforming with carbon dioxide

In this work, expanded vermiculite was treated with base or acid solutions and tested as nickel support in dry reforming of methane. Vermiculite supported nickel were synthesized by incipient wetness impregnation and characterized by X-ray diffraction, FT-IR spectroscopy, and temperature programmed reduction (H2-TPR). The catalytic study revealed that Ni supported raw expanded vermiculite (VE) shows poor catalytic activity, while acid (VTA) or base (VTB) treated vermiculite activated it as a support for Ni in dry methane reforming; the as-obtained catalysts Ni/BTV and Ni/ATV exhibits excellent catalytic performances, including high CH4 conversion and high yield of H2, Acid activation of vermiculite appears to facilitate the reduction of nickel species on the support and to decrease the carbon deposition on the catalyst in the dry reforming of CH4 compared with alkali activation treatment.